MULTI-CHANNEL FLUID DISPENSER

Abstract: An adapter for switching the fluid uptake port (P1) of a manually operated fluid-dispensing pump (P) between a plurality of fluid reservoirs. The adapter has an adapter outlet port (12) in fluid communication with the fluid uptake port (P1) and at least two adapter inlet ports (11). The adapter has concentric outer (13) and inner (16) housings. In a preferred embodiment, the outer housing (13) is affixed to a plurality of fluid reservoirs. The position of the outer housing (13), which is manually rotated with respect to the inner housing (16), is determined by a spring-loaded detent. Rotation of the outer housing (13) through successive detent stops sequentially connects the fluid uptake port (P1) of the fluid dispenser pump (P) with one of the adapter inlet ports (11) which are adapted to be in fluid communication with fluid reservoirs.

Description: Multi-Channel Fluid Dispenser BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a fluid dispensing apparatus, and more particularly, to means for selectively dispensing one of a plurality of fluids housed in separate containers by means of a single dispenser head. 2. Prior Art There are several types of inexpensive liquid dispensing apparatus presently on the market which incorporate a manually operated reciprocating pump mechanism for the transport of fluid. The dispenser usually includes a screw-on closure to releasably engage a container so that the dispenser may be removed from the container for the purpose of refilling the container. Such dispensers may have a trigger member, plunger or other protruding element which is intended to be moved manually to operate a pump piston in the dispenser, usually against the force of a return spring, so that liquid may be pumped from the container and dispensed through the liquid ejection nozzle or outlet of the device. Tada, in US Patent 3,701,478 issued October 31, 1972, describes one such hand-held dispenser useful for spraying a fluid. Tyler, in US Patent 3,061,202 describes yet another hand-held spraying head for delivering a fluid from a vessel. Malone, in US Patent 3,650,473, also describes a fluid dispensing head. Corsette, in US Patent 4,618,077, issued October 21, 1986, describes yet another such dispensing head. The foregoing patents describe various hand operated pumps which are well known in the literature and are incorporated herein by reference thereto. They are all hand operated pumps for dispensing fluids from a container. They all include a body containing a pumping chamber having an inlet and an outlet. Such pumps normally have a fluid uptake tube that extends downward from it and into a reservoir containing a fluid to be dispersed, and a screw closure that removably affixes the fluid uptake tube and the dispensing head to the reservoir. A disadvantage of prior art dispensers is that they are each capable of dispensing only a single fluid. This often limits their usefulness or requires that several dispensers be kept on hand...one for each fluid. Or that fluid reservoirs be manually changed when needed. It is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide an adapter for a fluid- dispensing, hand- operated pump, which adapter provides means for the selective dispensation of one of a plurality of fluids housed in their respective reservoirs from a single pump head or dispenser. Another object of the invention is to provide an adapter for selectively dispensing fluids from a plurality of reservoirs wherein the dead volume holding a fluid within the pump is minimized. The manner in which the foregoing objects are achieved will be more apparent from the following description, the appended claims and the figures of the attached drawings. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention provides an adapter for a standard pump- type fluid-dispensing head, which enables any one of a plurality of fluids housed in separate reservoirs to be dispensed through the single head without physically disconnecting the dispenser head from the reservoirs. The adapter can be modified to fit most types of hand-held prior art fluid pumps. The adapter has a pump end and a reservoir end. The pump end of the adapter non-releasably attaches to the fluid uptake port of the pump dispensing head. The reservoir end of the adapter has projecting therefrom a multiplicity of fluid intake ports in fluid communication with their respective fluid reservoirs; normally by means of siphon tubes therebetween. The adapter provides means for switching the fluid communication between the various fluid reservoirs and the fluid intake orifice of the pump by simple rotation of the adapter between detent stopped positions. An indexing arrow affixed to the adapter indicates which reservoir is being selected for dispensation. A detent, or bump, stops the rotation of the adapter when alignment of the fluid conduit between the appropriate fluid reservoir and the pump fluid intake orifice is achieved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a telescopic vertical sectional view of the switching adapter assembly of the present invention. Figure 2 is a view of the adapter assembly of Figure 1 along lines 2-2. Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of the adapter assembly of Figure 1 fitted into a prior art pump head. Figure 4 is an enlarged scale view of the adapter assembly of Figure 3, showing on of a plurality of possible fluid through the adapter assembly device. Figure 5 is a top view of the outer housing of the adapter assembly. Figure 6 is a top view of the seal plate of the adapter assembly. Figure 7 is a top view of the upper gasket. Figure 8 is a top view of the inner housing of the adapter assembly. Figure 9 is a bottom view of the inner housing of the adapter assembly. Figure 10 is a top view of the detent ring of the adapter assembly. Figure 11 is a top view of the threaded closure. Figure 12 is a top view of the lower stop ring of the adapter assembly. Figure 13 is a top view of the lower gasket of the adapter assembly. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Figure 1 shows a vertical telescopic sectional view of the adapter assembly of the present invention and its structural and functional relationship with the prior art pump head. The pump head P has a fluid intake orifice PI and dispensing orifice P2 and a conduit (not shown) providing fluid communication therebetween. The adapter assembly of the present invention, generally indicated at 10, has an adapter inlet port, 11, and an adapter outlet port indicated at 12. The adapter inlet port 11 and the outlet port 12 preferably have small diameters and together provide a low-volume fluid conducting conduit through the outer housing 13. The assembly of the dispenser begins with the attachment of the outer housing 13 of the adapter 10 to the prior art pump. The outer housing 13 is dimensioned to fit within the receiving portion 22 of the prior art pump P. The outer housing 13 matingly engages the receiving portion 22 of the prior art pump and is non- releasably affixed thereto. This may be accomplished by adhesion, or by spin welding if there are no receptive threads on the prior art pump head, or by threading the exterior surface of the outer housing 13, in the event there are female threads on the inner surface 22 of the prior art pump. The outlet port 12 of the adapter 10 is adjacent to, and in fluid communication with the pump fluid intake orifice PI. After non-releasably affixing the outer housing 13 to the mating inner surface 22 of the prior art pump, a sealing plate 14 having two holes therein is pressed into the outer housing 13 and bonded thereto as indicated in Figures 3 and 4. The holes on the sealing plate 14, shown in Figure 6, are positioned such that one of them 61 provides an opening into the fluid conduit 12 of the outer housing 13 when the other hole 62 engages a mating projection or key Al on the interior surface of the outer housing 13. Next, an upper gasket 15 is placed against the sealing plate 14. The upper gasket 15 has four holes therein, shown more clearly in Figure 7, radially located about the periphery of the disk. These upper gasket holes are dimensioned to matingly engage the upper projection of the adapter fluid intake orifice projections A2 on the top surface of the inner housing 16. The surface of the upper gasket, which is in contact with the sealing plate 14, rotates freely against the sealing plate 14. Next, the inner housing 16 is pressed up against the upper gasket 15 so that the upper projections A2 of . the adapter inlet orifices 11 engage the holes 71 in the upper gasket 15. Thus, one of the plurality of adapter fluid inlet ports 11 is in fluid communication with the adapter fluid outlet port 12. The inner housing 16 is held in place with respect to the outer housing by means of a detent ring 17. The detent ring 17, shown in more detail in Figure 9, is bonded to the outer housing 13 and effectively locks the inner housing 16 in place with respect to the outer housing, permitting only rotating motion of the detent ring 17, seal plate 14 and outer housing 14 relative to the inner housing 16. A threaded closure 18 is pressed up against the base of the detent ring 17 and secured in place by a lower stop ring 19 and lower gasket 20. The assembled adapter is shown in an enlarged view in Figure 4. The adapter fluid inlet ports 11, which may be any reasonably number, extend down from the adapter and may be connected to separate fluid reservoirs by means of tubes. By rotating the adapter assembly by grasping the prior art pump head in one hand, the threaded closure 18 portion of the adapter 10 in the other and twisting, the adapter outlet orifice 12 is sequentially connected to each one of a plurality of radially distributed fluid inlet ports 11. A registration arrow on the outer housing of the adapter is useful for designating which reservoir is in communication with the pump head. A spring-loaded (not shown) detent comprising a pair of ball plungers separated by a spring is inserted into a tubular chamber 21 within the inner housing 16 so that the ball plungers are pressed radially outwards in the inner housing to seat within detent holes in the detent ring 17. The detent ring 17 is shown in greater detail in Figure 9. The detent ring 17 consists of an annular member with circumferential indentations therein which indentations matingly engage the ball plungers of the spring-loaded detent housed within the tubular chamber 21 of the inner housing 16. The foregoing embodiment of the invention is conveniently made of plastic. The adapter 10 may be generally regarded as a selector portion for use with a fluid dispensing device. The complete fluid dispensing device of the present invention has a dispensing head PI, a plurality of fluid-containing reservoirs which form a reservoir portion, and a selector portion which provides a selectable fluid-conducting channel between individual fluid reservoirs in the reservoir portion and the dispensing orifice of the dispenser head. Obviously, many of the modifications and variations of the present invention are made possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise that as specifically described.

Claims: CLAIMS What is claimed is: 1. A adapter for use with a fluid dispenser, said fluid dispenser having a fluid intake port and a dispensing orifice; said adapter enabling the selective dispensation from said dispensing orifice of one of a plurality of fluids, each fluid housed in separate containers, said adapter comprising: (a) a adapter fluid intake end which fluid intake end releasably and simultaneously connects to at least two fluid reservoirs; (b) a dispenser end which dispenser end non-releasably attaches to said fluid intake port of said fluid dispenser; and (c) a switchable fluid conducting conduit therebetween. 2. A fluid dispensing device for selectively dispensing one of a plurality of fluids, each fluid being contained in a reservoir separate from the other fluids, said fluid dispensing device comprising, in combination; (a) a fluid dispensing portion; (b) a fluid reservoir portion; and (c) a selector portion having a dispenser end and a reservoir end and multiple individually selectable fluid conducting channels therebetween.

Inventors: KAZARIAN RANDAL N, MILLS DAVID P, KAZARIAN, RANDAL, N., MILLS, DAVID, P.
Applicants: KAZARIAN RANDAL N, MILLS DAVID P, KAZARIAN, RANDAL, N., MILLS, DAVID, P.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: B67D5
IPC codes: B05B11